Never Apart
by abls
Summary: Natsume and Mikan can’t stay away from each other, literally! One of Hotaru’s inventions gets used recklessly, and now they can’t be more than two feet apart! What happens to the two of them now?
1. Let's Get Literal

**Never Apart  
Chapter One: Let's Get Literal****  
****By aBitterLoveSong**

Natsume and Mikan can't stay away from each other, literally! One of Hotaru's inventions gets used recklessly, and now they can't be more than two feet apart! What happens to the two of them now?

-------------------------

"Mikan, are you going to play today?" Nonoko asked Mikan. They were heading for the gym for their Physical Education class.

"Play what?" Mikan asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We're having a basketball game today." Nonoko sighed, she wasn't looking forward to it.

"Really!" Mikan said enthusiastically. She turned her head to the side to face her quiet friend beside her. "Hotaru, are you going to play?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on, play! It won't be as fun without you!" Mikan begged, holding onto her friend's arm. Hotaru tried her best to shake the girl off but she held on like an insect.

"Fine. I'll play-"

"Great!" Mikan let go of Hotaru's arm in triumph.

"But I'm playing on the other team. I want to play in a team worth my effort." Hotaru finished tonelessly, fixing the bag on her shoulder.

"Ehh..." Mikan grumbled. That wasn't exactly what she was hoping for, but at least Hotaru was gonna play.

Someone called out for her. "Mikan!"

She turned her head to find Tsubasa waving at her from far away. "Tsubasa-_senpai_!" She cried out and waved back. She excused herself from her friends and ran for him, her pigtails flying after her. When she reached up to him she held her knees to support her as she caught her breath. At this rate, she wasn't going to survive a basketball game.

"What class do you have next?" Tsubasa asked her curiously, patting her on the back. That unknowingly got him an irritated look from two boys observing Mikan and him.

"P.E." Mikan replied, standing up. "We have a basketball game, but I don't think I'll live through it."

Tsubasa laughed, "Sure you can. Make sure to breathe." He winked as he fondly stroked her head.

Mikan kept her head down as she blushed. "Thanks Tsubasa-_senpai_. I'll make sure to do that."

She was about to say something else when someone shouted, "Mikan! Stop flirting and get over here!"

An irritated shiver shot up Mikan's spine. Tsubasa looked up to see who had called for her. Mikan slowly turned her head to see that Sumire had called her, her hands on her hips. She also saw an annoyed Natsume and an uncomfortable Ruka behind her. "What do you want?" She asked icily.

"Get over here!" Sumire repeated, motioning for her while her green eyes were shining maliciously.

Mikan sighed dejectedly. "Well, bye Tsubasa-_senpai_. I'll see you later."

"Sure." He smiled.

She waved goodbye and started for Sumire as Tsubasa shouted, "Good luck!"

Mikan smiled as she looked back at him. When she reached Sumire she stopped and crossed her arms. "What Sumire?" she asked.

"Are you going to play today?" Sumire asked, grinning.

"Yes..."

"Well I just wanted to say that you better get ready to lose because I'm not going to hold back." Sumire said confidently, then she pointed for the two boys behind her. "And I'm going to have Natsume and Ruka in my team."

"I'm not going to hold back, either!" Mikan said toughly, standing up straighter to look the part. She looked at the two boys behind Sumire. "And even if you have them in your team, you won't win."

"You sound confident." Natsume said, looking up at her.

"That's because I _know_ we'll win." Mikan said without thinking. She automatically wanted to take it back.

"Don't be so sure." Natsume smirked then walked for the gym, his hands in his pockets. Ruka closely followed after him and so did Sumire, after she stuck her tongue out at Mikan.

"Hmph." Mikan said to herself as she watched the three. "I know we'll win."

-------------------------

"Pass the ball, Yuu!" Mikan hysterically cried from the other end of the court. Sweat trickled down her forehead as the fourth, and final quarter of their basketball game was nearing its end. Her team was down by two points!

The boy frantically looked around for someone to pass the ball to. Each of his teammates were being closely guarded by people from the other team, and he wasn't strong enough to throw the ball all the way to Mikan. As a last resort, he made an illusion to pass the ball to Anna, instantly making Sumire run after it.

Sumire lunged for the ball, but then it disappeared. "Eh?" She said, right before she fell face first onto the court's shiny, wooden surface. She stayed there for a while, like a bug crushed by a shoe. She grumbled as she lifted herself up, to see Anna holding the real ball in her hands.

Mikan jumped up and down, waving her hands in the air. She was right under the other team's basket, so she had a chance to score and tie the game. "Anna! Pass it to me! Me!"

After hearing Mikan, Anna threw the ball as hard as she could towards her. The ball was nearing Mikan, her hands were getting ready to catch it, only to be intercepted by Natsume who jumped in front of her. "Natsume!" She shouted, clearly surprised.

Natsume was already dribbling the ball down the court, ignoring her.

"You're not getting away with that!" Mikan shouted, running after the boy. He was nearing the court's halfway point when she was close enough to steal the ball. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion as she reached for it, her feet still running after Natsume.

She grabbed the ball with a swift jerk, but Natsume wasn't letting go of it. They both had stopped, but they were both still holding onto the ball, trying to steal it from the other person's arms.

"Let go of it!" Natsume barked.

"No, you let go!" Mikan replied, crouching down with the ball under her to make it harder for Natsume to pull it away.

Still holding onto the ball, Natsume let go of one hand, getting ready to start a fire in it. "I said, let go!"

"No!" Mikan yelled.

"Fine!" In a second Natsume had lit a flame in his palm. He raised his arm, but before he could shoot the fire for Mikan, someone poured water all over his hand, extinguishing the flame. Natsume spun his head back in surprise, to find Yuu holding his now-empty water bottle. "D-don't do that." was all the boy could utter.

-------------------------

On the sidelines, Hotaru observed Natsume and Mikan, her backpack on the bench. Many people had ran up to the two to stop them, but Mikan kept kicking them away, and Natsume kept scaring them away with his fire.

Sumire spotted her from the court and ran up to her. She shouted, "Do something Hotaru!"

Hotaru turned her head and asked Sumire calmly, "What?" World War III was going to start in front of her, but she didn't seem to be affected.

"Do something before that girl hurts my Natsume!"

'_Isn't it the other way around...?'_ Hotaru thought, but she didn't bother to say it out loud. She looked away from Sumire to continue watching the fight. "I don't have anything."

Infuriated, Sumire reached for Hotaru's bag and opened it. She rifled through the things in it and found one of Hotaru's gun inventions. Without hesitation, and without thinking about what it was for, she grabbed it. "This is gonna stop those two!" she said out loud.

When finally realizing what Sumire was doing, Hotaru looked back at her. "No, don't...!" she said, raising her voice.

But it was too late; Sumire had aimed the gun for Natsume and Mikan and pulled the plastic trigger.

-------------------------

"Alright, foul!" Kokoroyomi, the unofficial referee, shouted. He blew his whistle to grab everyone's attention.

"Where have you been!" Ruka asked him, frenetically waving his hands in the air. His rabbit followed suit.

"Sleeping." He answered, with that same smile in his face. He walked up to Natsume and Mikan. Natsume was on the ground with the ball under him, but Mikan still had her arms around the ball shouting, "LET GO!"

"Come on, come on. Jump ball." Kokoroyomi said, bending down in front of them to separate the two from each other.

"Let her let go of it first!" Natsume ordered.

"Let him!" Mikan ordered back, motioning her head for Natsume.

"How about I'll get the ball, is tha-" Kokoroyomi began.

A cry from Hotaru came from the benches. "Watch out!"

"What?" Kokoroyomi casually looked up at her. He saw her beside Sumire, who was holding a large gun. Then he saw the large plastic bullet heading for the three of them.

"Woah!" He shouted, immediately jumping out of the way. He fell on his back, missing the large bullet by an inch. Natsume and Mikan were too caught up with grabbing the ball from one another that they hadn't noticed the bullet and it hit the both of them.

The gym was engulfed by intense light. Everyone shielded their eyes with their hands right before the light died down and everything was visible again.

Mikan was lying on the gym floor, unconscious. And so was Natsume.

The ball, free from both of their hands, rolled down the court.

-------------------------

"Mikan..." someone called out.

Mikan's head stirred, someone was calling out for her.

"Mikan..."

What was this? She was lying down on something soft, something even- a pillow. And... she was on a bed? Where... what happened?

"Mikan..."

Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment her pupils got used to the bright light from the ceiling. With her eyes refocused, she realized she was in the infirmary. She turned her head to see Hotaru looking down at her from the edge of her bed. "Hotaru?"

"Yeah, it's me." Hotaru said softly.

"Why... why am I here?" Mikan asked, sitting up. "How'd I get here?"

"We-"

It was only then when Mikan felt the weight pressing against her other side. She turned around to see Natsume sitting on the other edge of the bed, his back facing her and his arms crossed. "Aaah!" She shouted, shielding herself with his arms. "What are you doing here? Get away from me!"

She pushed him away from her, but he didn't budge. "There's no use doing that." He snapped back.

"Wha- what's he talking about?" Mikan looked back at Hotaru, hoping for an explanation.

"I was going to explain before you interrupted me."

"Uh... sorry." Mikan looked down. She jumped off the bed and in a second she was standing right beside Hotaru. "Can you explain no-"

"Eaargh!" Natsume shouted, he fell backwards and he was lying down on the bed, his arms and legs spread out in surprise.

"What's wrong with you?" Mikan asked coldly, peering down at him.

"Stop moving!" was his reply.

"He's stuck to you." Hotaru said simply as she walked for the infirmary's exit.

"What!" Mikan asked, following after her friend. She looked back, and there was nothing sticking the both of them together.

"Eeeaaargh!" Natsume fell of the bed, but landed on his feet. His legs reluctantly followed after Mikan as he began to start a flame in his hand. "Stop moving!"

"You stop moving!" Mikan snapped. "And quit following me."

"Don't you get it?" Hotaru sighed, holding the doorknob. "He _can't_ quit following you. _You're stuck together_."

"I don't get what you mean!" Mikan said loudly, raising her arms in confusion.

"Do you remember what happened in PE?"

"Umm..." Mikan stopped to think.

"The bullet." Natsume said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah!" Mikan hit her palm with her fist. "The bullet! What about it?"

"Well, Sumire fired the bullet at you two to stop you two from fighting, so thanks to that you two are stuck together, which means you can't be more thanfive feet apart from one another." Hotaru said rapidly. She didn't want to waste more time explaining. She opened the door and slammed it behind her.

"Wha...?"

No way. She was stuck with _Natsume Hyuuga_... forever! How will she marry now? She can't have a guy stuck to her! Wait, how will she find her husband! She can't date with a guy right beside her! And a guy like _Natsume Hyuuga_!

Natsume wasn't looking at her, and he was unusually quiet. Wait- he was always like that. "Are you just going to stay quiet!" she cried out, finally getting Hotaru's point.

He looked at her. "Fine. I have one thing to say."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "What?" she asked exasperatedly.

He leaned in closer to her. "You better be a good little girl and listen to everything I say. Because we're going to be stuck together, _for a very long time_."

With that, he opened the door and walked out of it, and involuntarily, Mikan's legs followed after him.

-------------------------

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

Just an idea that's been playing around in my mind. I was planning to use it for an original story in my Fictionpress account, but decided to use it here.

**Please review** and tell me what you think so far! Please leave some content in your review, like, if anyone seemed out of character, state it! Thanks for reading!


	2. A Teacher's Warning

**Never Apart  
****Chapter Two: A Teacher's Warning  
By aBitterLoveSong**

-------------------------

Mikan watched helplessly as her legs followed Natsume. From what she noticed, there was nothing sticking them together, it was an invisible force that she felt on her waist that made her follow him.

She looked up, now trying to find out where Natsume was heading to. "Natsume!" she called out. "Where are we going? This isn't the way to class!"

"Who said we're going to class?" Natsume replied as he continued to walk.

"I can't skip class!" Mikan cried out.

"Well you are now."

"No I'm not!" Mikan forced her legs into a complete stop. Not realizing this, Natsume continued walking. But it wasn't long when a sudden headache jolted up to both of their heads. Their vision began to get hazy, and a sense of nausea filled both of them.

"Graaaah!" Mikan went on all fours, taking deep breaths. It felt like she was going to vomit all the food she had in the past week!

Natsume stopped walking and crouched down. He rubbed his temples to try to stifle the pain on his forehead, but it wouldn't work, in fact, it got worst as the force applied onto his skin. Mikan looked up and started to crawl for him, and almost instantly, the pain and nausea flew away.

Both students looked at each other, both taking deep breaths. "What just happened?" Mikan asked weakly.

Natsume stood up and silently walked away. The nausea and headaches came back again. He stepped back, and they disappeared. He stepped forward again, and the pain came back. He stepped back again, and they disappeared again.

Being the sadistic person he is he did it three or four more times until Mikan shouted, "OK! I get it!"

Natsume rubbed his chin in thought. "So there's no way you can resist, unless you want the both of us to go through with that again." It didn't seem like a bad idea but then he realized he couldn't do his missions with the stupid girl tagging along beside him.

'_Hotaru! What did you get me into!'_ Mikan screamed inside as she got up to her feet.

"We can't stay like this forever!" she exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Natsume asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know. You have a brain, use it."

"Wait, I thought you had brains too." Natsume replied sardonically. "Or maybe it is true, there's nothing in that head of yours but air."

Mikan closed her fist in anger. How could she last with someone like him? Why, oh _WHY_ did it have to be him!

"Well, since Hotaru made the stupid invention that got us like this," she began through gritted teeth. "Let's ask her to make one that can get us out of it."

Natsume nodded. "Smartest thing you've said since I met you."

…

…

…

Did Natsume just _compliment _her? Maybe the headaches _did_ something to his brain!

"T-then, let's go to class." Mikan stuttered and turned around to head for their classroom.

-------------------------

"Who knows about us being stuck like this?" Mikan asked softly to Natsume as she peeked through the door. She gulped when she saw it was time for Mr. Jinno's class.

"No one besides that friend of yours." Natsume answered, leaning against the wall.

"Not even any teachers?"

"No."

"Oh great." Mikan stood up and faced him. "Alright, this is the plan. I go ove-"

Natsume pushed the classroom's back door and entered before she could finish. Mr. Jinno stopped what he was doing and everyone in the classroom fell silent. They all turned around to look who interrupted the teacher and the ones who would inevitably be scolded. Natsume acted as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world, and walked for his seat.

Mikan peeked from the door frame and gulped when she realized eyes were on her. She followed after Natsume, bowing her head in apology. "I'm so sorry Mr. Jinno, we didn't mean to be la-"

"Sakura," he began angrily. "Sit down or else you'll have even more work to do after class."

Her shoulders slumped in despair. Great. More work, all because of her stupid partner that she just so happened to get stuck with barged through the door like he owned the place. She muttered as she got down to her seat, a slight pain starting to form in her head. They were too far away from each other.

Mr. Jinno faced the chalkboard again and class went on. After about ten minutes Mikan tried rubbing her had to get rid of the pain, but it only got worse. She looked back at Natsume. She could see he was taking breaths that were much larger than usual, and he had a closed fist.

He could feel it too.

Mikan looked back to the front and saw that Mr. Jinno's back was facing the class. She then went back to face Natsume. "Hey, Natsume." she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

He looked up, and so did the people around her. Mikan started motioning for him to come to sit nearer to her. But of course, people didn't know they were experiencing pain so this got them raising their eyebrows. Natsume looked down again, there was nothing going on between the both of them but thanks to her stupidity people would start thinking there was.

Ruka looked at Mikan, then at Natsume. Why did she want Natsume to sit nearer to her? He held the rabbit in his arms closer to him. "Natsume, I think Mikan wants you to sit nearer to her." he pointed out.

Natsume clutched his stomach in unseen pain. "Why -_breath-_ would I want to do that?"

"I don't know." Ruka looked at Mikan who was still waving her hands for Natsume.

-------------------------

Mikan knew Natsume wasn't going to budge.

But if they stayed apart she'd be barfing in class in less than ten minutes. She stopped waving her hands and looked in front, pondering what to do.

After a few seconds she decided. She stood up, accidentally knocking her notebook to the floor, thus gathering more attention than she needed.

"What are you doing?" Hotaru asked her softly, her violet eyes watching her friend.

Mr. Jinno looked back. "What are you doing now Sakura?" he asked hotly. "You just can't help interrupting class, can you?"

Mikan looked down, the color rushing to her face. "I-I-" she looked back at Natsume who was glaring at her, his eyes telling her to stay where she was and not doing anything.

But she wasn't going to listen, she did NOT want to barf in class. She looked back at Mr. Jinno. "I-I… I just wanted to ask you if it was ok to sit beside my class partner."

Mr. Jinno set the piece of chalk in his hand on the teacher's table. "Tell me first, why do you want to sit beside Hyuuga?"

Mikan was still looking down. "B-because…" She hadn't thought of any reason, so she blurted the first thing that came to her mind. "He helps me with your lesson, he teachers me things I don't understand… and I don't want to fail so I want to sit beside him."

Everyone gasped in the classroom. Ruka caught his breath. Sumire almost fainted.

'_STUPID GIRL!'_' Natsume screamed in his head. He stood up and shouted, "That's not true!"

Everyone looked back and forth between the both of them. Were they a couple? Does Mikan actually have feelings for Natsume that he doesn't share back, so she was making things up? Or does Natsume actually have feelings for Mikan that he just keeps denying?

A hushed chatter filled the class as they tried to think of the answer. Mr. Jinno tapped his table to get back the attention. "Alright, alright, quiet down!" He looked at the two students standing up. "I've made my decision. And yes Sakura, you can sit beside your partner Hyuuga."

Mikan sighed in relief, but the heat in her face was still there. "Thank you Mr. Jinno." She turned around, her head bowed down, to walk for Natsume.

Mr. Jinno turned around to face the chalkboard again. As Mikan and Natsume both sat down he said, "Hyuuga."

Nastume looked up.

"You better make sure that all you're doing is _teaching_ back there." he finished, a smirk forming on his mouth as he tapped the chalk against the board.

Snickers scattered throughout the classroom. Mikan had her head bowed down but Ruka remained silent.

Natsume had an urge to burn that stupid frog on his shoulder right there.

-------------------------

**AUTHOR NOTE:**

**glenda23:** They are attached at the hip, but it's an invisible force that keeps them together, literally.

Thank so much to kiuna'yukina, zephyrlight, hend, againagainagain, amylovestakuya, Hiyono-chin, SasuNaru-Love, Soul of the Rain, -Trisha1511-, snow winter, Secret Keeper, and BurningButterfly for the reviews!

Please review on what you think of this chapter too! Thanks for reading!


End file.
